February 3rd, 2021
Mike Blake / reuters
Incoming Amazon CEO Andy Jassy is reportedly committed to the idea of the company continuing to make games, even as it has yet to release one that is either commercially or critically successful. “Some businesses take off in the first year, and others take many years,” he wrote in an email obtained by
Bloomberg. “Though we haven’t consistently succeeded yet in Amazon Game Studios, I believe we will if we hang in there.” Jassy is said to have sent the email one day before Amazon announced he would take over as CEO of the company once Jeff Bezos leaves the post later this year.
Amazon s new CEO Andy Jassy wants to keep Amazon Game Studios going, report says
Earlier this week, Jassy reportedly told employees that AGS will get there if we stay focused. Listen - 01:14
Amazon announced cloud gaming service Luna last year. Amazon
Amazon s next CEO Andy Jassy is reportedly committed to keeping the company s game development studio going. Jassy assured Amazon Game Studios employees that when it takes longer to become successful, it s often sweeter than being successful immediately, Bloomberg reported Wednesday citing an internal email. Some businesses take off in the first year, and others take many years, Jassy reportedly wrote to AGS staffers on Tuesday. Though we haven t consistently succeeded yet in AGS, I believe we will if we hang in there.
02/02/21 Comments Closed
With more money than they really know what to do with, the sprawling hegemony of tech giants like Amazon and Google have all turned their gaze toward video games in recent times, and yet it feels like every venture ends up a mismanaged flop that defies their grand ambitions. So what is it that they keep on getting so very, very wrong?
The last week has been particularly rough for both Amazon and Google. A report into Amazon Game Studios revealed a company pushed to create AAA hits, but without the leadership or understanding of how to get there, leading to the infamous backtrack of Crucible’s release and a slew of projects cancelled before they saw the light of day.
Bloomberg Report Reveals Major Dysfunction At Amazon Game Studios
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A soldier fights a bear (good luck) in New World. (Screenshot: Amazon Game Studios)
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You may know it as the Everything Store. But there’s one chunk of “everything” Amazon has failed to crack: video games. A new report from
Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier and Priya Anand sheds light on why Amazon Game Studios, backed by one of the planet’s biggest companies, can’t seem to make a successful video game.
Why
Has Amazon Failed to Break Into Videogames?
We’ve talked about this before, but Amazon–despite being a juggernaut in just about every other industry–does not have a great track record when it comes to making videogames. The company’s attempt at an
Overwatch clone,
Crucible, was such a disaster that it got pulled five months after months. Most games are hit or miss, of course, but most of the other projects which came out of Amazon Game Studios have been misses. According to Jason Schreier, i.e. that one guy who warned us about
Cyberpunk 2077, and fellow Bloomburg writer Priya Anand, there’s a very simple reason behind this consistent pattern of failure: Mike Frazzini, the guy in charge of Amazon Game Studios, has no history of making games.